The Water Dragon
by Mizu Azuma
Summary: Mizu has always been haunted by her childhood, even after she joined FT. Her childhood was terrible, and no matter how hard she tries, she can't get rid of it... This is my OC's background WRITTEN BY CHRYS STONE! I hope you enjoy! Rated T for language.
1. The Nightmare

**A/N: Hey guys! I don't know if you remember me, but I'm back with a new story! Now let's get some things cleared before we start,** 1.** I did not write this story, Chrys Stone did.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own FT or it's characters! Hiro Mashima does! I only own my OC's. **

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><p>"Mommy please; no more!" The small child covered her head, tears streaming freely as she shielded the smaller child in her arms. There was a crack of a whip, and the pain seared through her back again. This wasn't the first time she had felt pain like this, her body was littered in scars from the torture she endured.<p>

"You foul creature. How dare you speak back to me?" The woman's golden eyes burned with fury and disgust. Her slender figure shook with rage that had no business in a mother of two.

"Please just don't hurt the baby!" The child cried out again, blood was running down her shoulders now, staining what remained of her blouse. She refused to release the child in her arms, fearing for her safety.

She should have stayed quiet, taken the beating like always, but she couldn't just let her innocent little sister become a victim like her. Mizu opened her one good eye to make sure the little bundle in her arms was safe.

Big brown eyes stared up at her questioningly; she could see her own disheveled appearance reflected back. Her brilliant purple bangs were matted to her forehead with sweat, her left eye swollen and purple. Her right eye was puffy and red from crying, making the gold of her irises more prominent. She could see the fear she felt all over her young face.

The child in her arms however didn't have that fear yet, she was innocent and pristine. The woman towering over the pair had gone crazy when the baby was born, and Mizu was the sole recipient of her anger. Even though it hurt, she wouldn't let it be any other way, this child would never have to go through pain like this, ever, if she had anything to say about it. She gave the little girl a shaking smile, petting the short blue locks on the top of her head.

"It's ok baby girl, I'll always protect you." Mizu's voice was no more than a horse whisper, shuttering as she took another blow to the shoulders. "I won't ever let her hurt you."

Mizu woke with a start, sweat matting her bangs to her forehead. Her nightmare was still fresh enough to make her old scars burn into her pale skin. She reached up to the mark that came all the way around to her collar bone, rubbing the rough surface absently; remembering how crazed the woman who gave it to her looked. Her body shuttered as a phantom whip lashed out at her skin, the ghost of searing hot pain shot through her as she remembered the day she had left her home.

It had been a while since the last time she had a dream like that; she had almost been able to put her horrible past out of her mind completely. Her hands were gripping tightly to her shoulders now, finger nails biting into her golden guild insignia. It was a long moment of weighted breaths before she realized she was crying, hopelessly weeping over a past she couldn't forget.

"It's ok Mizu, it was just a dream." A soft furry paw patted her knee in a soothing rhythm. "I'm here now." The girl sniffled pulling her small friend into a tight embrace allowing her tears to run their course.

After a while there was a knock at the door, which brought Mizu's attention back to earth.

"Mizu let me in." It was the stern voice of the one and only Erza Scarlet.

It was then that Mizu realized her sobs had been loud enough to wake all of Fairy Hills' occupants. 'Dammit' she cursed inwardly. She didn't want to explain herself to them, but she knew that Erza wasn't someone who took being kept waiting very well. She scurried out of her bed, not bothering to put her pull over sweater on to hide the evidence of her abuse from the red haired woman.

"I-I'm sorry, did I wake you." Mizu mumbled as she pulled the door to her room open. Erza was still clad in her favorite pajamas, hair up in a high pony tail, and an expression of sympathy on her face. Not many people got to see this side of the warrior woman who always guarded herself in the presence of others.

"You screamed out for help." Erza was already perched in the overstuffed arm chair that was in the corner of Mizu's modest room. "I came to make sure you're ok." The honest concern in the voice of her friend gave Mizu comfort. This was precisely why Erza was one of the only people she had entrusted with her secret.

"I had the dream again; it's been so long I lost my self in the terror of it all." There was a deep sigh before Mizu plopped on her bed in the most ungraceful manner. Erza was so lucky that her body was nearly unmarked from her childhood trauma, unlike Mizu who was scarred from head to toe, inside and out.

"It was just a dream; remember that they can't hurt you anymore." Erza reassured the younger woman softly. Mizu replied with a nod, not trusting her voice in the moment, but she knew Erza was right. The past was in the past, and she was here to move on with her life.

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><p><strong>AN: Hope you guys liked it! Stay tuned for the next chapters!**


	2. Fire and Water

**A/N: Okay, here's the second chapter of my OC's background! Again, I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I DO NOT OWN FAIRY TAIL NOR ITS CHARACTERS! I only own Mizu! She's mine!**

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><p>The sun was blazing in the summer heat, but Mizu still refused to take her thin jacket off. Natsu was beginning to think the girl was extremely weird. She had been a member of the guild for a while now, but she still kept to herself. Sometimes that made him nervous, since the only friend she had seemed to make since joining was Erza, the red headed demon.<p>

He couldn't say why, but he was curious about why she was such a quiet person. He'd never seen her interacting with the others; she even brushed off the newest members, Mirajane and her two younger siblings.

Natsu was uncomfortable with the silence that always followed her, so he decided that it would be his job to bring her out of her shell.

It had been a spur of the moment thing to ask her to come with him on his current job, he really wasn't even sure why he had.

"Aren't you hot in all that?" He tried to sound annoyed instead of curious, after all he wasn't really brave enough to try understanding why girls did the strange things they did.

"I'm fine; can we just get this over with?" Mizu hated long jobs, especially the kinds that involved a train. The thought of getting on made her stomach do a back flip.

Natsu seemed to have just remembered that they were about to board the train, because he turned green as well.

"Natsu, Mizu, you are going to miss the train if you don't get a move on." The small lime green cat called as she adjusted her pack and straightened her dress.

"Ayano is right, stop fooling around." Happy stuck out his tongue playfully, making sure that he was out of his best friend's reach.

"Let's get this over with."

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><p>The job was simple enough, defeat the bad guys and retrieve the client's property. They managed it with out much difficulty, returning to the client within a few hours to offer him his missing items.<p>

What she had not anticipated was Natsu's innate ability to destroy everything around him. Mizu had smacked the idiot upside the head, forcing him to apologize for his behavior, but the damage was done. As a result the mayor of the town demanded they cover the cost of repair, taking half the reward they had earned.

"I'm not taking jobs with you again." She stated simply as the made their way back to the train station. "You're a walking demolition team." For the first time she lost her calm exterior, pulling on her hair so that the scar on her collar bone flashed into view.

Natsu, being less of an idiot than everyone believed, put the pieces together and realized that she wore clothing like that to hide the rest of this scar. He winced internally, wondering how extensive the scar needed to be for her to cover all the way down to her wrists. It didn't really matter that much, he had scars too.

Right, now to get her to talk more.

"I'm not that bad." He tried to sound hurt, but the smile never left his face.

"I've been on a dozen jobs, and never lost the reward to repairs!" Mizu rounded on the fire mage with an accusing finger. "How the hell do you survive? There's no money to pay rent or buy food!" Her eyes flared, the flecks of blue nearly glowing in the late afternoon sun. Natsu hadn't noticed that before, not like he was really looking at her all that closely to begin with. But now he let himself silently study her features.

She wore her hair so that her bangs covered her one eye most of the time, but he had just seen it, along with the white scar tissue that normally no one would notice. Her eyes were sparkling with anger, brilliantly gold. Her hair ran down her back, spilling over her shoulders, highlighted with the same blue as her eyes. I was then that he noticed the band across her head, though it was blue the pattern was the same as his scarf.

His mind was working a mile a minute as she turned around heading back in the direction of the station. He stood there watching as her cat stuck out her tongue before walking off along side her friend.

"You really did go over board this time, Natsu." Happy patted the boy's leg sadly as he shook his head. "Maybe you should be more careful."

Mizu sighed as she got to the platform, trying her best not to think about the train ride back to Magnolia. If she was being honest, she really didn't really mind spending time with the rambunctious fire mage. Deep down Mizu knew that she had started to form a soft spot for the destructive idiot, even if she would never admit it to anyone. Maybe she would spend more time with him in the future, but only if she didn't really need the money from the reward.

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><p>Mizu sat at the bar, reading a book Levy had lent her while in deep thought. She unconsciously reached up to push her hair behind one ear, her fingers ghosting across the dragon scaled head band that she adored more than anything in the whole world. She smiled as her hand came back down to turn the page.<p>

She was content with the way her day was progressing, as she took a sip of her fruit flavored soda. She was ignorant of the brewing storm in the back ground. Tables we flying left and right, some scorched, while others were frozen.

Suddenly a chair hit her in the back of the head, causing her to spill her drink on her lap. Mizu closed her eyes, feeling her anger burn just under the surface as she turned to find Natsu and Gray cowering.

"Prepare to die." She growled before chasing the two idiots around the guild throwing daggers from her belt at their heads.

"We're sorry Mizu!" They cried trying their best to dodge the implements of their impending doom.

"You're still going to die!" She hollered as she hopped over the table they had over turned in their attempt to out run her. "Come here and die like men!"

"Mizu, leave the poor boys alone." Lisanna called from her spot at the bar, laughing the whole time. "I think you've punished them enough." Mizu froze, her spike whip only just gripped in her left hand.

"B-but my drink!" She whined as she pointed to her wet pants.

"Ha ha!" Natsu was laughing as he looked over at her wet attire. "Mizu wet her pants!"

"I'm sorry Lisanna, but he has to die." Mizu whipped back around, the whip forgotten as she knocked him to the ground, pummeling his chest with her bare hands.

"Stupid flame brain, I almost feel sorry for you." Gray muttered as he made a quick exit.

"Poor, Natsu you'd think he would learn to treat girls nicer." Lisanna sighed as she turned back to the map she and Elfman had been studying for their next job.

"Don't worry, Mizu will beat manners into him... eventually." Mira said with a grin.

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><p>Mizu stood in the back of the room with wide eyes, listening to Mira and Elfman tell the guild why Lisanna hadn't come back with them. She didn't want to hear them any more, she didn't want it to be true. Natsu looked as upset as she felt, after all Lisanna was his very best friend. Mizu's heart broke for the fire mage who stood in the doorway, his eyes looked almost vacant.<p>

He would never be the same, she knew what that kind of loss could do to a person.

"Lisanna." She said brokenly as she let herself cry on Erza's shoulder.

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><p><strong>AN: Okay, just in case this is not clear, This fix started not long before Lisanna dies, and Mizu joined the guild before Mira, Elfman, and Lisanna did... Hope this clears things up if you were confused!**


	3. Her Resolve

**A/N: I'm so so so so sorry for the late chapter! My beta has been busy so she hasn't had the time! I hope you're still following this story! Thanks soooooo much if you are!**

**I hope this chapter clears some things up for people...**

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><p>Nothing in the world could have prepared Mizu for the change in her friends. Loss was never an easy thing, she knew that, but the pain that completely disabled the Strauss siblings was nearly more than she could handle. Natsu was even worse, he spent all of ten minutes grieving with everyone else before he walked back out the door, running to the field he and Lisanna had used as their own personal playground.<p>

Mizu had followed after him with no idea as to why. She couldn't give him the comfort he needed, because the only thing that would make it better would be to have Lisanna back. Mira and her brother set up a head stone at the church, even though there was no body to bury there.

Mizu noticed that Natsu had done the same thing in the field. This was encouraging, he had accepted the loss. Of course it wasn't as easy as simply moving forward. Natsu threw himself into work, going on jobs back to back. When he wasn't working, he threw himself into scuffles over idiotic things.

His focus was on getting stronger so he could find Igneel, he would never give that search up no matter what happened. A part of Mizu felt that he was secretly looking for Lisanna as well.

There was nothing she could do except offer him a decent fight every once in a while, when their paths crossed. She watched him from afar, envying how he could smile through the pain. She had spent years hating herself for what had happened the day she left her home. Her little sister had been the only light in her dark world, so much so that she took the child, and ran. She did whatever it took to keep the child she loved so much alive_._

_Flashback_

_It was only a few weeks after that she collapsed, having given everything she could find to the baby and keeping nothing for herself. When she woke again, the baby was missing, and she was in a small hut, her wounds bandaged, with the scent of medical herbs in the air. She slowly examined herself, realizing that she had been wrapped up like some kind of mummy, including her injured eye. _

_She was forever grateful to her Master. He had found her face down in the dirt, half alive, but the child was nowhere in sight. When she found her voice again she told him everything that had happened, and he gave her a theory. It was most likely that the child had wandered off, since she seemed to have learned to walk._

_Mizu had cried for days, guilt eating away at her. She had sworn to protect her little sister, she was the only person in the whole world that the little girl could depend on. Mizu had failed her, and there was nothing she could do to fix it._

_The stranger who had saved her life took pity on her, and decided he would take her on as his student until she was strong enough to be on her own. She spent a year learning everything there was to know about the art of the sword. Every minute of the day was dedicated to strength training and technique, and after a while she began to excel at it. Her Master gave her praise that she had never received before; he was like the father she had never truly known._

_She would have stayed with him, but a secret illness overtook his body with a sudden viciousness, that she barely had time to say good bye. He collapsed out of the blue one morning, holding out a blade he had prepared as her graduation present._

_He had told her to live on, and to never lose hope. He was sure her sister had been found just like she had. He wanted her to believe that one day they would be reunited. Then he left her alone again._

_The shock of it made her lose herself. Mizu wondered through the forest for days, dragging the last memento from her Master behind her. She moved with unseeing eyes, which had cried so many tears she could no longer produce the moist substance. After what seemed like an eternity of wondering, she stumbled across a cave. It was as good a place to lay down and die, so she entered the cave. She curled her body around the sheathed sword, and waited for death to take her._

_Hours later she opened her eyes to come face to face with a magnificent blue beast, it's fangs were close to her face, but she didn't care._

_"Please make it fast, I've already suffered so much." She hadn't expected the animal to understand what she was saying. She absolutely had not expected to be pulled into a sitting position, and have food placed in front of her._

_"You are safe here little one." Her voice was like the chiming of delicate bells, and Mizu couldn't help but feel the onslaught of emotions, she wept her little heart out again, clinging to her precious sword. "You must eat to gain your strength back."_

_End Flashback_

If there was anything that Mizu understood it was the pain of losing someone you cared about. There was a sense of helplessness that never really went away completely, and she knew Natsu was doing everything he could not to give into that helplessness.

She admired that about him, he had a strong heart, even though it was scared with loss. It gave her the strength to heal her own wounds, and move forward. She would start her own search again, because as much as she felt that it was hopeless, Natsu made her want to believe that the impossible was possible.

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><p>Ayano watched from the comfort of her fluffy cushion as her best friend got herself ready for a long job. She had only just become an S-class mage a few months ago, but Mizu assured her small green friend that she was ready for the challenge. Her duffle bag was packed with tight fitted tee shirts that would cover all the way up to the scar that came across her collar bone. There were three light-weight, long sleeve jackets, all modified with a piece of clear fabric that would show her Guild mark off to identify her as a Mage of Fairy Tail, without needing to remove the fabric from her arms. She had various styles of pants and two pairs of shoes, one boot and one sneaker.<p>

Ayano yawned lazily as Mizu sat on the bed pulling on a pair of skin tight leggings. She took a wrap-a-round plaid skirt off her dresser, and fastened the two buckles. She took a tank top that had been thrown over her mirror and pulled it down over her head, tucking the extra length into the waist of the skirt. Her long hair fell down over her shoulders, and landed down the middle of her back.

The young woman twisted in the mirror appraising the white lines that were scattered along the surface of her upper body, her fingers trailing the deepest ones. I ghost of a memory flickered across her golden eyes, but it was gone before Ayano could ask what was wrong. The young woman gave herself a moment: inhale, exhale.

Her belt was hanging across the night stand, the late afternoon sun gleaming off the sharp projectiles that she stored there. It took a moment to settle the thick leather into a comfortable position on her hips before she would ultimately reach for her most precious weapon.

She unsheathed the blade slowly, allowing it to catch the light. She did a couple of testing swings before returning it to its ornate leather scabbard. She checked the runes to the left of the fuller before covering it the rest of the way. With great care she worked her precious gift from her Master into the space reserved for it on her belt, the side opposite of her spiked whip.

She took a quick count of how many daggers were tucked into the holders around her right hip, and once she was satisfiedshe let herself smile. She reached up and adjusted her dragon scaled band making sure it was perfect, and then pulled on a zip up jacket from her duffle. She pulled the zipper up and slung the duffle over her shoulder.

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><p>The guild was quiet for the most part. Mira was behind the bar humming as she toiled away cleaning. Gray had left the day before, and wouldn't be back until she was gone, but she wasn't looking for him anyway; she searched for the unusually pink head of hair, and couldn't seem to find him.<p>

"If you're looking for Natsu, he left about an hour ago. He was yelling something about Hargeon and the Salamander." Mizu let her shoulders fall slightly, she had been hoping to say good bye before she headed out.

"Will you let him know I'm heading out on my first S-class mission when he gets back?" Mizu gave Mira a soft smile, knowing that it was still hard for the older woman to watch her take on that particular mantle. "Oh, and Erza too, she should be back sometime this week right?"

"I'll let them know. Be careful Mizu, S-class requests can be extremely dangerous if you aren't." Her blue eyes were still so steeped in sadness, even if she was smiling.

"I'm Mizu Marvell, something like this is a piece of cake!" Mira's smile brightened as Mizu shouldered her duffle bag again. "Besides I have Ayano with me, if I can't hack it she'll get me out of there in a heartbeat."

"Have a safe trip then."

"I'm off!" Mizu held her hand up making a backward L as a sign to the older woman that she was a Fairy Tail Mage and could handle whatever was thrown her way. Her story was only just beginning, and she was looking forward to the adventure for the first time in her life.

"I will my little sister, I swear it."

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><p><strong>AN: Thanks for reading! Again, sorry for the late chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm sorry this took so long! I was busy and I got sidetracked with a bunch of other things... I'll try to update tomorrow, but if I don't it'll be at least another week because I'm going to Mexico, and I won't have Internet... So I hope you guys enjoy the new chapter!**

::Beta Note:: I just wanted to let the readers know that from this chapter on Mizu is in charge! Be nice people or I will have to hunt you down for being mean to my little! ~Chrys Stone

Walking to the train station seemed to take longer than usual. Even though she told herself she was ready to move forward, it was clear that Mizu's heart wasn't completely in it. She couldn't seem to prevent that sinking feeling from leaving her stomach, the nagging thought that something bad was going to happen. Mizu sighed for the umpteenth time, trying to fight off the pre-mission jitters.

Ayano saw this and decided to comfort her best friend, "Don't worry Mizu, I promise nothing will happen while we're away. I bet when we get back, Natsu will be raging about how the lead was false and start pounding everyone to a pulp." The cat gave her friend an encouraging smile and patted her leg gently.

Mizu sighed, "I guess you're right..." Her face seemed to brighten, "at least we're doing something to help others." They arrived at the train station and Mizu's face immediately became green. "Please let me get through this without puking my guts up." She took several slow and deep breaths before setting foot on the metal contraction that caused her so much misery.

They found their seats just as the train lurched forward and set off towards the destination.

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><p>They arrived four hours later (Mizu had passed out shortly after boarding the train due to her discomfort) in a small town called Gallowstown. The S-class mission was to break an old seal, and then guard some old wooden flute until the people were ready with the new seal. Seemed easy enough, that was until she got to the location of the seal to find people — dark guild members really — already trying to break the seal. Mizu moved as fast as she could, ducking behind a tree to watch them. She peaked her head out carefully to observe the rag tag bunch that she assumed would sooner or later be her opponents. One was big and buff, the other scrawnier with black hair in a high spiky pony-tail. The only thing signifying them as a Dark Guild was their Eisenwald emblems, which she had seen Multiple times.<p>

After ten minutes of observing them she decided it was time to make her move. Mizu slowly drew her sword from its scabbard, then darted from tree to tree until she was right behind them. Her blade heated up with her magic, glowing soft blue as her aura filled it's vessel. In a flash she was behind the large Eisenwald mage, her blade biting into his thick neck. "Who are you and why are you breaking this seal." She hissed in a low dangerous tone that made the man stiffen.

"Heheh, looks like we've been caught, buddy." The one with black hair paused in his attempts to break the seal, turning to observe Mizu and her captive. "You wanna know who we are? Fine then, I'm Kageyama, as for what we're doing, were stealing this flute." He said calmly, arms folded comfortably over his chest. His calm demeanor was unsettling, bringing the feeling she had in Magnolia back in full force, she needed to end this quickly.

Mizu didn't know that Kageyama's had already summoned his shadow snakes, and they were already poised to strike. His smug smile should have given her a clue that her enemy was prepared for something like this to happen, but she was to focused on getting the job done that she overlooked it. Ignorant of her situation, Mizu cut down the first man, and prepared to attack the second. Ayano saw the snakes emerge from the shadows a second too late to warn her friend, and watched in horror as they tore through the thin fabric of her friend's jacket, and into the soft flesh underneath. Mizu hissed as small streams of blood sprang from the wounds; she flailed wildly trying to dislodge the fangs in her back. She sliced the air in every direction trying to connect a hit with either the thing attached to her or the caster himself.

She managed to slice the head from the body of two of the shadow beasts before she connected the hilt of her sword with the broad forehead of her opponent. She smiled to herself as he slipped to the ground, unconscious. Her victory was short lived as the toxins from the bites finally took their toll, and she pitched forward.

'So much for being S-class,' was Mizu's last thought before losing her own consciousness.

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><p>When Mizu opened her eyes again, all she saw was clear skies. The rough force of the breeze zipping past her made her grit her teeth as the pain from her injury came back full force. She realized that Ayano was able to patch up her wounds with the meager supplies that she carried in her bag. The cat noticed that Mizu had come round again, and explained that it had been two days that the girl had been slipping in and out of consciousness. Mizu could believe that, with the encroaching darkness that boarder the edges of her vision. She fought it off as hard as she could when she say the tall spires of Cardia Cathedral just up in the distance.<p>

Ayano put in a last burst of speed, and set Mizu on the ground as gently as she could manage before running inside to get help. Mizu's blood had seeped through the rough bandages, her consciousness fading faster by the second, the last thing she saw was a flash of pink hair. 'Salmon...' She corrected herself, then everything went black once more.

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><p><strong>AN: Welp, there you have it! I hope you enjoyed!**


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